


Safe

by Shearmouth



Series: Whumptober 2019 [4]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, whumptober2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 11:41:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20907089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shearmouth/pseuds/Shearmouth
Summary: Whumptober Day 4– Human Shield"He saved my life.""Would you really have expected anything else from him?""Of course not."





	Safe

It can be a hell of an ordeal to find a good, cheap cup of coffee in New York City. Yet MJ had cracked the code. O’Donnel’s Café on the corner of 86th and Chester. Warm wood finish and Edison lights, it looked like it should be expensive, but they knew how to cater to the broke-ass NYU kids. She’d kept her hideout a close secret for a few weeks now, but today she was finally going to show it to Peter.

MJ tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear as the breeze gusted down the street. She scanned the crowds. It was mid-morning, a bright December Saturday, and Peter was rarely late. As if on cue, she spotted him coming through the throng, ducking around people looking around. MJ waved, and a grin split Peter’s face as their eyes met. MJ grinned back.

It had been over three years since Europe. Since Beck and secret identities and a broken black dahlia. Yet even now, every time she saw him, the bad in the world faded out.

She muscled through the crowd toward him. They reached each other and embraced. Peter had always been a hugger, a good one at that, and MJ had gradually grown obsessed with his hugs. She rested her nose on Peter’s shoulder, breathed in his familiar cinnamon scent.

Peter’s breath was warm on her wind-chilled neck. “Hey,” he murmured dopily. “I missed you.”

MJ pulled back so she could look him in the eyes, smirking. “You saw me just last night, dumbass.”

Peter leaned in so their foreheads were touching. “So?”

MJ couldn’t hold in the giggle. Some harder part of her scoffed at herself.

Jesus, what this boy did to her. She hated it.

And she couldn’t be more in love.

She closed the distance between them so their lips met. The morning grew warmer.

MJ broke it off first, shoving him lightly. “Come on. I need caffeine.”

“There are worse thing to be addicted to,” Peter mused, as he took her hand. They started walking, slow and relaxed. For a moment MJ let herself forget their upcoming winter finals– sophomore year of college really does fly by, damn– and the fact that Peter was a superpowered vigilante who balanced his nights with studying and fighting crime. She was going on a coffee date with her boyfriend. The air smelled like Christmas in the city. Life was good.

They were drawing close to the turnoff to Chester when Peter’s hand tensed in hers, and he stopped in his tracks.

MJ looked over at him, concerned. Her heart sank when she realized the look on his face– that intense focus that meant something had activated his danger sense.

“Peter?” MJ asked lowly. “What is it?”

Peter’s eyes flicked around the street. There were only a few people around, this being a less busy section of sidewalk. “Something’s wrong,” he replied quietly.

MJ pressed closer to him. She started looking around for potential threats, but all she saw was a few people walking in the opposite direction on the far sidewalk, a car parked on the curb up ahead, and a wall of scaffolding against the half-finished building up ahead.

“What?” MJ asked, gripping his hand. She could sense his anxiety.

“I’m not sure, it’s…” Peter was staring at the car up ahead. His eyes widened.

“_Down! Get down!”_ Peter screamed. MJ felt him grab her, throw them both to the ground, and press his body up against hers.

It was the last thing she felt before an explosion roared in her ears and shook the pavement under her. A searing heat washed over them and ripped the air from her lungs. The world went dark.

000

MJ woke up in pain.

The backs of her calves were on fire. Her lungs burned, and her mouth tasted like smoke. She coughed, struggling to draw in air. Something heavy was pressed against her back.

MJ managed to draw herself up to sitting. The air was thick with smoke and heat. She took in the car up ahead, half-exploded and engulfed in flame. Her head spun.

_Peter. _

She half-turned to find him curled around her legs. He was unconscious. Embedded shrapnel and raw burns covered his back. Nausea swelled in MJ’s gut. She’d seen him hurt before, and it would never not make her feel sick with fear.

“Peter,” she said, cradling his face. His ears were bleeding, and MJ registered that her own hearing was muffled. “Peter, come on.” She patted his cheeks. “Come on, we have to go.” She had no idea who had planted the car bomb, but she was more worried about the EMTs. If they got in an ambulance and Peter started to heal, it could jeopardize his identity, and if they gave him the wrong drugs it could do more harm than good by interacting with his healing factor.

Peter wasn’t waking. MJ rubbed his sternum with her knuckle. He didn’t respond.

_Shit. _MJ could hear sirens drawing closer. She pulled out her phone to call Tony, and found the screen shattered.

_Shit. _

MJ hauled Peter up and draped him over her shoulder, grateful, not for the first time, that they were about the same height. Her burned calves shrieked in protest, but adrenaline was shooting through her blood, numbing the pain. She needed to protect Peter.

She managed to get them moving, and shuffled toward a nearby alley. She felt sharp metal and blood under her hands where they met Peter’s back, and she shoved the fear out of her mind.

She half-walked, half-dragged him into the alley, and fell behind a dumpster. She laid Peter on his stomach, and stripped off her jacket to drape carefully over his back.

Her throat threatened to close with panic, but she forced herself to compartmentalize. She reached into Peter’s back pocket and pulled out his phone. It was also shattered. MJ swore aloud. If he was wearing the suit it would have sent out an alarm to Tony. And usually they both had panic buttons, but Tony had just taken them in for the week to update them. They had gambled that nothing would happen the span of seven measly days, and lost catastrophically.

Footsteps sounded down the alley, coming closer. MJ pulled out her switchblade and crouched with Peter behind her. She had no idea who was coming, but if they meant them further harm, they were in for a fight. A snarl of pain and fear and ferocious protectiveness swelled in MJ’s chest.

Footsteps pounded closer. Around the dumpster came a tall man with long black hair, and a gunmetal gray vibranium arm. He stared at them in shock.

Relief threatened to turn MJ’s bones to water. “Bucky?” she gasped, going unsteady on her feet.

Instantly Bucky was kneeling in front of her, steadying her. The shock on his face was replaced by a militant focus.

“Sam, I found them,” Bucky said. “I need backup.”

He coaxed MJ into a sitting position so she was leaning against the wall of the alley. “Bucky, what…?” MJ was stunned he was here. “How did you know–?”

“Tony asked us to keep an eye on Peter while we were on patrol this week,” Bucky replied, as he inspected MJ’s burned legs. “He didn’t tell us why, but…” Bucky looked over to Peter’s slumped form and grimaced. “You two are trouble magnets, I swear. Are you hurt anywhere else, MJ?”

“No, I don’t think so, just my legs. Peter shielded me from the worst of it, I think.” Now that Bucky was here, some of MJ’s rush was fading, and she was starting to feel very tired and very, very hurt. She rested her hand against Peter’s head as Bucky shifted his attention to him.

Bucky hissed as he lifted MJ’s jacket off Peter’s back. “Yeah, I think you’re right about that. We gotta get him to the tower.”

Bucky replaced the jacket and touched his earpiece. “Pepper? It’s Bucky. Peter and MJ have been involved in an explosion. I need you to get Peter’s medical team to the tower, and I need you to come and get MJ. Sam will bring Peter to the tower, he’s hurt the worst. ”

MJ heard Pepper acknowledge on the other side. She leaned against the alley wall, swallowing the smoke taste in her throat.

A gust of wind crashed into the alley, buffeting the three of them. Sam came to a running stop before them, wings retracting.

He knelt in front of the two of them and raised an eyebrow above his mask. “Jesus, kid, how do you always manage to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? A car bomb? Seriously?”

Bucky lifted Peter into Sam’s arms, and secured him to Sam’s chest. “See you in a few,” Sam said, then flared his wings and took off for the tower.

Five minutes later, the roar of thrusters reached them, and Pepper appeared above. She landed before MJ, her faceplate retracting. She looked harried and concerned, but her eyes softened sympathetically when they met MJ’s.

“Oh, honey,” Pepper said gently. “You two.”

MJ let out a wobbly laugh. “This is why we can’t have nice things,” she said.

Pepper smiled softly. “Come on. Let’s get you safe.”

000

By the time they reached the tower’s med bay, MJ was more tired than she remembered ever being. Pepper carried her in because he calves seemed to have decided to entirely rebel against the concept of walking. She lay MJ down on her stomach on a gurney next to Peter’s.

He was stretched out flat on his stomach. Dr. Cho and two of her assistant doctors were working on removing the shrapnel from his back. Peter was still unconscious, but every now and then he would twitch and shift with a groan. Tony sat by his head, running his hand through Peter’s hair. He looked up when Pepper sat MJ down.

“MJ,” Tony said, relief evident in his voice. He stood and gave her a gentle hug, bionic arm whirring quietly with the movement. “You okay, kid? You scared the hell out of us.”

MJ hugged him back, exhausted. “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. Just a little banged up.” She let Tony go and looked back at Peter. “Is he going to be okay?”

Tony looked to Peter, managing to wear concern, exhaustion and affection on his face all at once. “He should be. Once they get the shrapnel out his healing should take over. They’ve got him on the good stuff right now.” Tony rubbed his face. “Sam said that it was a car bomb. Some vendetta against the people who own that building that’s being remodeled.”

“So for once no one was _explicitly _trying to kill him,” MJ said. “That’s refreshing.”

Tony tilted his head and clicked his tongue thoughtfully. “Still. The universe sure loves to screw with you two.”

MJ looked at Peter’s bloodied-up face, relaxed in a drug-induced sleep. “He saved my life.”

Tony glanced at her. “Would you really have expected anything else from him?”

MJ smiled softly. “Of course not.”

000

It took three hours of surgery and four more of deep sleep, but Peter was awake and healing by nightfall. MJ’s legs had been dressed and felt immensely better, and she was able to walk up to Peter’s bedside under her own power. He smiled up at her warmly when she approached.

“Hey,” he said. He scooched over slightly and patted the mattress next to him.

“Hey.” MJ crawled carefully up so she lay next to him. He pulled her in with a soft sigh, circling her back with his IV-taped arm. MJ relaxed into his touch, pressing her forehead against his.

“Hey,” he said again. His voice was hoarse but relaxed. “I missed you.”

MJ grinned softly. “You’re an idiot.”

Peter grinned back. “How you feeling?” 

“Fine now.” She lifted her hand up between them to brush her thumb gently over his cheekbone. “You scared me.”

Peter let out a tired breath, blinking sleepily. “Sorry.”

MJ raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”

Peter looked her in the eyes, smile fading. “No. I’m not.”

MJ’s hand stilled on his cheek. “I know,” she said. “Didn’t think so.” A ferocious love surged through her, and she pressed herself closer to him. “Thank you, Peter.”

Peter kissed her forehead. “Anytime,” he murmured.

For a few gentle moments they lay there together in each other’s warmth. Affirming each other’s presence.

“Hey,” Peter said at length, “I owe you a coffee.”

“It was my idea for the date,” MJ replied. “If anything, I owe you a coffee.”

“How about we drink coffee and watch Star Wars with Morgan tomorrow and we’ll call it even?” Peter suggested.

MJ smiled, and pecked him on the lips. “Deal.”

000 

When Tony went down to check on Peter and MJ in the med bay later that night, he found them curled into each other on Peter’s bed. The tablet Tony and given Peter to keep him entertained while he healed lay open between them, a Vine compilation still playing quietly.

Tony smirked fondly. He snapped a picture for later blackmail. Then he closed the tablet, and dimmed the lights. He left the two to sleep, relaxed in the knowledge that they were safe in the tower, and safe in each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
